Friday, April 9, 2010

The psychology of power: Absolutely | The Economist

The psychology of power: Absolutely | The Economist: "Anecdote is not science, though. And, more subtly, even if anecdote is correct, it does not answer the question of whether power tends to corrupt, as Lord Acton’s dictum has it, or whether it merely attracts the corruptible. To investigate this question Joris Lammers at Tilburg University, in the Netherlands, and Adam Galinsky at Northwestern University, in Illinois, have conducted a series of experiments which attempted to elicit states of powerfulness and powerlessness in the minds of volunteers. Having done so, as they report in Psychological Science, they tested those volunteers’ moral pliability. Lord Acton, they found, was right."

This is very interesting. The article goes into more detail but people in power don't think the rules apply to them but they apply double to those not in power.

It explains so much.

The question they didn't answer is what about those people who don't deserve power but feel that they do.

ht InsideWork